Ricoh Caplio R3 Review

Features

The Ricoh Caplio R3 has a 5.25 megapixel, 1/2.5 inch CCD
that delivers 5.13 effective megapixels. There are a range
of different image sizes on offer (2592 x 1944, 2592 x 1728,
2048 x 1536, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480), which can be recorded
as either Fine or Normal quality JPEGs. The camera's 7.1x
optical zoom lens is equivalent to a 28-200mm lens on a 35mm
format camera. There is also a 3.6x digital zoom should you
feel the need to use it. The Ricoh Caplio R3 has a Vibration
Correction function that helps to deliver sharper pictures
free from handshake. The camera has 26Mb of internal memory
and also supports SD Memory Cards and MultiMedia Cards (not
supplied).

The Ricoh Caplio R3 has a normal shooting mode, Self-timer
(2 secs. or 10 secs.) and 3 different Continuous modes (Continuous,
S-Continuous, M-Continuous). Sharpness can be adjusted in
3 levels (Soft, Normal, Sharp). There are also 4 different
colour effects available (Vivid, Normal, Neutral and Black
and White). The Macro setting allows you to focus on subjects
that are as close as 1cm. The camera offers 4 focusing systems
- Autofocus, Manual Focus, Fixed Focus (Snap) and Infinity.
An AF assist lamp helps to achieve focus in low-light situations.
The built-in flash offers 5 different modes (Auto, Red-eye
Reduction, On, Slow Synchro, Off). The flash range is 20cm
- 2.4m at the wide-angle lens setting and 14cm - 1.8m at tele-photo.

To compose your images, you can use the LCD monitor - there
is no optical or electronic viewfinder. The Ricoh Caplio R3
has a 2.5 inch translucent amorphous silicon TFT LCD which
has 114,000 pixels and offers 100% scene coverage. The Ricoh
Caplio R3 can record movies with sound at 320 x 240 pixels
or 160 x 120 pixels, both either at 30 fps or 15 fps. Video
is recorded in the AVI format. The length of the video is
only limited by the size of the memory card that you are using.
You can also record an unlimited voice memo. A histogram is
available in both shooting and playback modes. The Ricoh Caplio
R3 supports the DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and PictBridge
printing standards, and it connects to a computer via USB
1.1.

The Ricoh Caplio R3's dimensions are 95 (W) x 53 (H) x 26
(D) mm, and it weighs 135g without the battery and storage
card fitted. The camera is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-ion
Battery (3.7V, 1150mAh), which has an approximate life of
310 shots. There is a plastic tripod mount in the left-center
of the bottom of the camera.